German Published Patent Application No. 197 19 779 A1 describes an acceleration sensor having an oscillating structure, which is movably suspended on a substrate, deflectable as a result of an acceleration effect and developed in the form of a seismic mass; it also includes an evaluation means for detecting a deflection of the oscillating structure caused by an acceleration. The seismic mass is deflectable in one direction only, so that accelerations in only a single direction are able to be detected. In other words, in the known acceleration sensor one seismic mass per acceleration direction is provided for detecting an acceleration.
German Published Patent Application No. 10 2008 001 442 A1 describes a micromechanical component, which includes a substrate having a seismic mass. The mass is deflectable in different directions for different accelerations acting on the substrate. Thus, only a single seismic mass is used for detecting accelerations in different directions. In the case of the known micromechanical component it may happen for space-related reasons that a deflection of the seismic mass caused by an acceleration in a first direction is less well detectable than a deflection of the seismic mass caused by an acceleration in a second direction. In other words, accelerations in different directions can be detected with variable degrees of success.